Morrison Gallery

Kent has long been an artsy town. An art colony formed there in the early 20th century almost as soon as farmers began their flight from the bony hillsides of the Northeast, seeking greener pastures in the broad, fertile expanses of the Midwest.

Nature abhors a vacuum, however, and it was not long before artists were lured by the beauty of the region and the affordability of the abandoned homesteads. They happily immortalized the rustic beauty of the hillsides; what is painted must be sold if the artist is to eat.

So soon the growing Connecticut colonies formed associations that exhibited their works, luring buyers out of the cities. One of the earliest colonies was in Kent where 101 years ago nine prominent artists established the state’s second oldest art association—antedated only by Old Lyme’s. In the century since the town has become a community of galleries, featuring the works of the emerging and the eminent in the art world.

Now Kent is home to a gallery deserving of an urban setting, the 6,000-square-foot Morrison Gallery, built over the past four years by art entrepreneur William “Billy” Morrison.

“People are freaking out,” said Morrison, who initiated a soft opening of his gallery this spring. “People feel like they are somewhere else. They keep trying to donate, like I’m a museum. It’s really special to watch people’s reaction to what is an amazing space. It’s great for the community, artists and everyone.”

Visitors enter the gallery through massive glass doors, specially designed to open accordion-style to allow large art works to be brought through them. The doors flood the main gallery with natural light, illuminating a space that features 100-foot-long walls with a soaring 22-foot-high ceiling.

The gallery’s post-modernist exterior only hints at the space inside. The new gallery was intentionally designed to exhibit large modern and contemporary art along with monumental sculpture. “I’m keeping a lot of space and air for the art,” Morrison said.

Morrison is still finding his way in his “bespoke” minimalist and architecturally distinctive gallery, designed by architect John Allee of Alee Architecture and Design and constructed by Kent’s T&S Builders and Borghesi Building in Torrington.

“I decided to build the state-of-the-art art storage building first,” he said, “and planned for a gallery in front of it. The art storage building was up and running in 2019 and we were just at the point of breaking ground for the gallery in 2020 when Covid struck. We had to make a decision whether to stop or keep going. But our motto is, ‘Just keep going,’ so we kept on.

He finally got his certificate of occupancy a year ago but decided to wait until spring for a soft opening. He is currently open weekends or by appointment and plans to resume longer hours and exhibitions in the spring.

“With the current show, I am kind of introducing the gallery,” he said. “It’s a mix and flow of modern masters and new contemporary artists. I split up it up with the modern masters in the larger space, flowing into the new contemporary works. I plan to rotate the works by these artists and few others until spring and then start with exhibits,” he continued.

Among the artists currently on view are Alexander Liberman, Philip Taaffe, George Sugarman, Tim Prentice and contemporary artists, Canal Cheong Jagerroos, Adam Handler, Peter Anton, Taher Jaoui and others.

“I have artists from London to Dubai to New Zealand,” he said. “During Covid I was just on mission to find artists who were overseas to give them a venue here. It’s been by word of mouth—them finding me; me finding them. It’s worked out well.”

This current exhibition introduces many of the new artists mixed with works from the estates of established artists of renown. He confesses to a passion for contemporary art but says, “I don’t want to limit myself.”

The works featured include both paintings and sculpture. “That’s a major thing with this gallery. I have enough property for outdoor sculpture installations.”

In recent months a lovely white horse by sculptor Peter Busby has graced the gallery lawn but its days there may be numbered. “I had an Arabian polo player in this weekend who is interested in it,” he reported.

The gallery is capable of shipping even a 1,500-pound, life-size sculpture of a horse anywhere in the world. “There’s a slogan for you,” he quipped. “We can get anything anywhere.”

Behind the gallery proper is the Morrison Art Storage Facility (MASF). He explains that the large, two-story structure includes art storage rooms for individuals seeking a secure place to put their collections as well as for museums. This is augmented by a large open space on the ground floor and, at one end, a viewing room that mirrors the appearance of the gallery proper.

“Some people buy art as an investment,” he explained. “They ship it to me and it goes into their own storage room. They know it is safe, and if in a couple of years they want it for their house, we ship it there. There are constantly trucks coming and going.”

The viewing room can also be used if these patrons want exhibit their works for others or if a customer is interested in a work by a particular artist. “If they see a piece they are interested in, we make an appointment with them and bring them to the viewing room where they can see other works by that artist.”

So who is this Billy Morrison, art world entrepreneur? First he not an artist but he does have a passion for artists and their work. “I got started loving art and art history in high school,” he reports. “At 18 I worked at a frame shop and it just kind of kept going. I worked at a gallery in Danbury and opened Morrison Gallery in 1999 or 2000.”

He said that renowned abstract expressionist artist Cleve Gray (1918–2004) had a profound impact on his evolution as a gallery owner. “Meeting Cleve was a game-changer for me,” he said. “It was a very special thing with Cleve, it’s hard to put in words. He was a big inspiration and just so professional. He taught me a lot about the relationship of the artist and the gallery owner.”

After the artist’s death his widow, noted writer Francine Duplessis Gray, used Morrison’s gallery for major installations of her husband’s work.

Morrison sees the acquisition of works from major artists’ estates as one of his future goals. He just bought 400 works from the estate of Alexander Liberman, a Russian-American artist known for his signature red steel sculptures and geometric paintings.

He is interested in adding works from other important deceased artists such as sculptor and photographer Kenneth Snelson, Clement Meadmore, one of the most highly respected artists of his generation, Edward Dugmore, an abstract expressionist who died in 1996, Christopher Armstrong, a brilliant painter of seascapes and George Sugarman, whose sculptures, drawings and paintings defied a definitive style.

“I’m hoping to do major installations with these artists and to develop an outdoor sculpture walk,” Morrison said of the future.

For the present, visitors can view the works in the gallery Saturdays, 11AM to 5PM and Sunday, noon to 4PM. The gallery is located at 60 North Main Street; 860-927-4501; info@morrisongallery.com.